The present disclosure relates to muzzle loading blackpowder firearms adapted to fire a skirted projectile, such as air rifle pellet. Typically, a muzzle loading blackpowder firearm utilizes a relatively heavy projectile having a relatively large bore barrel. This in turn requires that a substantial amount of blackpowder be loaded in the barrel via the muzzle. Then, a projectile having essentially the same diameter as the bore of the barrel is forced down the barrel so that it contacts the blackpowder. Upon the shooter pulling the trigger of the firearm, the blackpowder charge is ignited and the expanding gas within the confined barrel forces the projectile from the barrel.
While this system has worked well for several centuries, for target practice and for younger shooters, because these large bore blackpowder firearms used large (heavy) projectiles and large blackpowder charges, it was relatively expensive (as compared, for example to .22 caliber rim fired cartridges), and has strong recoil. Thus, there has been a long-standing need for a blackpowder, muzzle loading, small caliber firearm and system that used readily available projectiles, was easy to load, required no special tools to load the projectile in the barrel, exhibited little recoil, and was inexpensive to use.